Ellis Fischel Cancer Center is a member of

University of Missouri Health Care University of Missouri Health Care is an American academic health system located in Columbia, Missouri. It's owned by the University of Missouri System. University of Missouri Health System includes five hospitals: University Hospital, Ellis Fi ...

in Columbia, Missouri. It was the first free-standing cancer center west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

and the second such institution of its kind in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The center is now connected to

University of Missouri Hospital University Hospital is located in Columbia, Missouri. It has the only Level I trauma center and helicopter service in Mid-Missouri, and the only burn intensive care unit in the region. It also has an accredited chest pain center cardiology program ...

at 1 Hospital Drive. The former Ellis Fischel Cancer Center was located on Business Loop 70 West.

History

The beginnings of Ellis Fischel can be traced back to 1931 when the Missouri State Medical Association created a committee on cancer. Due to the lack of facilities, the first cancer hospital was a roving hospital that cared for cancer patients of all ages in hospitals across the state. A plan was conceived for a centrally-located hospital in 1937. Dr. Ellis Fischel (1883-1938), a leading

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Oncologist, envisioned a statewide plan for the control of cancer, which included a State Cancer Hospital, equipped with the latest facilities for treatment, staffed by specially trained physicians, with provision for scientific investigation into the causes of the disease, and satellite diagnostic tumor clinics established around the state. Missouri Governor Lloyd C. Stark, a major supporter of this plan, signed a bill to erect the hospital in 1937. Columbia was chosen as the site of the hospital because of the central location and the presence of the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...

, a major cancer research center. The seven-story, 104-bed hospital was built on U.S. Route 40 (now

Interstate 70 Interstate 70 (I-70) is a major east–west Interstate Highway in the United States that runs from I-15 near Cove Fort, Utah, to a park and ride lot just east of I-695 in Baltimore, Maryland, and is the fifth-longest Interstate in the co ...

) in 1938. Ellis Fischel was expanded in 1975 to increase laboratory space, clinic capability and operating room suites. Ellis fischel state cancer hospital

Ellis Fischel Cancer Center joined

in 1990. All inpatient services were moved to University Hospital; outpatient services, such as radiation clinics and screening services, were still located at the facility off of Business Loop 70. After funding was cut from the Missouri State budget, University of Missouri curators decided in May 2010 to float a bond issue for $31 million to pay for the new Ellis Fischel construction. The new Ellis Fischel Cancer Center is now connected to

and takes up three floors of the Patient Care Tower Addition. The first floor and second floor are designated for clinics, and the eighth floor is the inpatient oncology unit.

The Wyatt Guest House

The Ernest and Eugenia Wyatt Guest House is located next to the old Ellis Fischel Cancer Center on Business Loop 70. The Guest House is available for EFCC patients experiencing long-term outpatient care, such as chemotherapy, and families of EFCC inpatients. The house has twelve rooms available for guest use, with each room equipped with two double beds, private bath, telephone, TV, linens and other "hotel like" amenities. Common areas include the kitchen, TV rooms, library, living room, internet and laundry facilities. The Wyatt Guest house was later closed in June of 2020.

Mizzou North

After Ellis Fischel Cancer Center moved in with

, the building that it once occupied stood vacant for about two years. After further planning, the

bought the building from

and started Mizzou North. Mizzou North now houses offices, as well as the University of Missouri's Law Enforcement Training Institute.

References

External links

University of Missouri Health Care
{{authority control Hospital buildings completed in 1938 University of Missouri campus 1938 establishments in Missouri Teaching hospitals in Missouri Hospitals established in 1938 Hospitals in Columbia, Missouri